Martin McMahon

Type

White Paper

Summary

Founded in 1978, the Moores UCSD Cancer Center is one of just 41 centers in the United States to hold a National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. As such, it ranks among the top centers in the nation conducting basic and clinical cancer research, providing advanced patient care and serving the community through outreach and education programs.

• In 1998, an endowment of $1 million established the Chugai Chair for Cancer Research for the Center Director.

• The Cancer Center is one of five Organized Research Units (ORU) of the UCSD School of Medicine. As an ORU, we stimulate cancer research on the La Jolla campus, stimulate scientific collaboration, and nurture junior cancer investigators.

• One of two USA branches of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research is located on the UCSD campus, which enables powerful scientific synergies with members of the Cancer Center.

• The Cancer Center is working in close collaboration with UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, seeking to develop new chemotherapeutic agents from algae and other natural living organisms from the sea.

• Center researchers have established an active research program with the San Diego Supercomputer Center, one of two such centers in the nation, which is housed on the UCSD campus.

• There are over 330 faculty members of the Center, who are drawn from 19 departments and divisions across the campus and other local institutions such as Rady Children’s Hospital, The Salk Institute, and San Diego State University.

• Cancer Center membership includes one Nobel Laureate, 14 members of the National Academy of Sciences (UCSD is ranked 7th in the total number of NAS members [67]), one member of the Advisory Council of the NCI, and a past president of the American Association for Cancer Research.

• UCSD is the only institution in the San Diego region to be approved by the federally funded National Marrow Donor Program to perform bone marrow and stem cell transplants from unrelated donors. Such transplants are the only curative treatments for certain leukemias, non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, severe aplastic anemia, and other blood disorders.

• There are approximately 40,000 outpatient visits per year, which include the Oncology Clinics, Chemotherapy and Radiation Oncology.

• At any given time, the Cancer Center offers over 150 clinical trials.

• The California Smokers Helpline – a free, telephone-based smoking cessation service – was developed by the Cancer Center in 1990 and has since grown to become a statewide service that has assisted more than 240,000 callers to quit. Based upon this success, other states have established similar programs.

The California Smokers’ Helpline also created a service just for teens. Designed for 14- to 17-year-old tobacco users, the Helpline teen service offers several options to help with quitting. Teen smoking is on the rise, and few cessation programs are designed to meet this age group’s needs.

• The UCSD Cancer Center Foundation, founded in 1981 by community supporters, directs fund-raising efforts in support of our research and clinical programs.